PLAQUEMINE, La. — Authorities say a teenager who pulled the trigger on what he thought was an empty handgun fired a bullet that went through the family dog and hit his grandmother, killing the woman at the scene.

Kenny Payne, the police chief in Plaquemine, Louisiana, told news outlets that the shooting appears to be accidental. That’s based on the teenager’s 911 call and information from his sister.

He says 19-year-old Blaise Horton was removing the magazine from the gun Thursday when he fatally shot Cathy DuPont Fulton.

The chief says the dog was being treated at an emergency veterinarian clinic, while Horton was being booked in jail on a negligent homicide charge.